Former Secretary of Defence Mark Esper has claimed Donald Trump suggested firing missiles into Mexico.
According to Esper, the former President’s remarks were made ahead of the 2020 election, and Trump’s intentions were to ‘destroy the drug labs’.
The claim was made in Esper’s forthcoming book, A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times, which will be available to buy from 10 May.
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According to The New York Times, Esper alleges in his memoir that Trump twice suggested to him in the summer of 2020 that the USA could ‘shoot missiles into Mexico to destroy the drug labs’ and that ‘no one would know it was us’.
UNILAD has approached Trump’s representatives for comment.
The claims echo comments made in Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael D. Shear’s book, Border Wars: Inside Trump’s Assault on Immigration, that Trump suggested shooting migrants attempting to cross the US-Mexico border.
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An excerpt from the 2019 book said Trump suggested ‘shooting migrants in the legs to slow them down’ to his aides, only to be told such an action would be illegal.
Esper’s missile claim is by no means the only bombshell allegation he makes in Sacred Oath, with the politician also writing that Trump wanted Black Lives Matter protesters ‘shot’.
According to Axios, Esper wrote that Trump made the remarks in June 2020, when demonstrations took the US by storm in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police.
Trump reportedly said: “Can't you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?"
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Esper also claims that Trump became ‘increasingly frustrated’ with the public’s response to Floyd’s killing at the hands of law enforcement.
Describing the moments following Trump’s comments, Esper said: “[It felt] surreal, sitting in front of the Resolute desk, inside the Oval Office, with this idea weighing heavily in the air, and the president red-faced and complaining loudly about the protests under way in Washington, D.C."
He continued: "The good news – this wasn't a difficult decision. The bad news – I had to figure out a way to walk Trump back without creating the mess I was trying to avoid."
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According to Axios, Esper’s upcoming memoir was vetted ‘at the highest levels of the Pentagon’ and cleared by Cabinet members, senior civilians and ‘dozens’ of 4-star generals.
Esper was publicly sacked by Trump just days after the former president lost his re-election bid.
Abruptly announcing Esper would be replaced by Christopher C Miller, Trump tweeted at the time: “Chris will do a GREAT job! Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service.”
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Topics: Donald Trump